Fox31 falls for gun show “terrorist” hoax –Update

Fox31 misfired this weekend with a false report about a local gun show “terrorist.” The report broadcast Saturday alleged Daniele Perazzi, president of the world-famous Perazzi gun brand, was detained and questioned at the Colorado Gun Collectors Association after a taxi driver alerted police that he might be a terrorist. Perazzi issued a statement denying such an incident occurred. The Adams County Sherriff, the taxi company and the gun collectors group likewise denied it ever took place.

Worse than the mistake, the station failed to own up to its error when confronted with it– by a rival.

“It’s a flat out hoax,” 9News anchor Kyle Clark told viewers Tuesday night regarding the Fox31 report. KUSA “reached out to Fox31″ for an explanation and “we have not heard back.”

Fox management was doing “due diligence” to research the genesis of the story and, as of Wednesday morning, had no public statement on the matter.
UPDATE: Fox31 VP News Ed Kosowski released this statement Wednesday afternoon: “We believe we were intentionally misled by someone who misrepresented herself not only to the news media but to two of our sources on the story, an NRA board member from Colorado and a nationally-recognized Second Amendment attorney, both of whom as recently as yesterday were standing by the story. These sources now tell us they believe they were misled by the woman. We are working on a follow-up story that will thoroughly explain what happened.”
That’s the statement. Where’s the apology?

Joanne Ostrow has been watching TV since before "reality" required quotation marks. "Hill Street Blues" was life-changing. If Dickens, Twain or Agatha Christie were alive today, they'd be writing for television. And proud of it.